# Sonika Varma Narula > Ph.D. (English) Lead Conversation Architect at Kore.ai | GenAI & LLM Strategist | Prompt Engineering | NLP to Agentic Transformation Specialist | Conversation Design & UX | GenAI | LLMs | NLP | ML | Conversational AI Location: San Jose, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/sonikavarmanarula With over 8 years of experience in Conversational AI, I bring deep expertise in building and optimizing chat and voice assistants that deliver high-impact, human-centered user experiences. Currently, I work as a Lead Conversation Architect and Expert GenAI Strategist with Kore.ai’s Expert Services Team, where I partner with global clients to transform their conversational ecosystems using Generative AI, LLMs, prompt engineering, and agentic frameworks. My recent focus has been on implementing GenAI-powered solutions using platforms like OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Anthropic—helping organizations identify gaps in existing LLM capabilities, designing prompt-based workarounds, and shaping hybrid models that combine precision with flexibility. I lead initiatives that enable clients to move from traditional NLU to intelligent, autonomous assistants that align with evolving business needs and drive measurable outcomes. Currently, I work with clients across banking, healthcare, travel, insurance, IT services, and e-commerce, helping them transition from traditional NLU systems to next-gen GenAI frameworks. I am deeply involved in evaluating the evolving landscape of LLMs (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic)—identifying capability gaps and crafting strategies to mitigate limitations and fine-tune performance through intelligent prompting, fallback strategies, and hybrid architectures. My journey started with training NLP-based assistants, working on intent classification, entity extraction, context handling, and dialog tuning. Over the years, I’ve grown into a cross-functional expert capable of analyzing user behavior, improving containment, and aligning assistant performance with business KPIs. I leverage user analytics and performance data to inform continuous improvements, enhance adoption, and ensure real-world impact. As part of my current role, I also train and consult enterprise clients on leveraging Kore.ai’s platform, including its Generative AI features and custom NLP tooling, helping teams understand, adapt, and scale faster in the rapidly shifting GenAI landscape. What sets me apart is a strong foundation in traditional conversational design, combined with a forward-looking mindset toward autonomous, adaptive, and generative assistants. I thrive at the intersection of technology, user experience, and enterprise impact—bringing clarity, strategy, and execution to the evolving world of AI-powered conversations. Let’s build assistants that don’t just respond—but understand, reason, and evolve! 🚀 ## Work Experience ### Lead Conversational Architect @ Kore.ai Jan 2024 – Present | San Jose, California, United States Leading end-to-end strategy and implementation of GenAI-powered conversational solutions across chat and voice interfaces for enterprise clients. (Leading multiple projects where I apply GenAI techniques and LLM fine-tuning (using models like OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Anthropic) to solve business challenges in customer support, self-service, and automation.) Designing and refining prompt engineering frameworks tailored to LLMs such as OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Anthropic. Advising clients on migrating from traditional NLU-based bots to GenAI-enabled assistants, including hybrid architectures that balance control and creativity. Analyzing user behavior, performance metrics, and containment trends to optimize conversation flows and align assistant behavior with business KPIs. Identifying LLM capability gaps and designing mitigation strategies, including fallback prompts, fine-tuned flows, and guardrail mechanisms. Collaborating with cross-functional teams (product, UX, NLP, engineering) to ensure scalable, adaptive, and user-centric assistant performance. Training enterprise clients on Kore.ai’s platform, with a focus on its NLP engine, GenAI features, and conversation analytics dashboards. Supporting clients across diverse sectors—banking, healthcare, travel, e-commerce, insurance, and IT services—with strategic GenAI adoption plans. ### Manager NLP - Professional Services @ Kore.ai Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | San Jose, California, United States As Manager of the NLP Team within the Professional Services division at Kore.ai, I led a team of NLP Analysts and Conversation Designers in delivering custom chatbot and voicebot solutions for enterprise clients across industries such as healthcare, banking, travel, insurance, and e-commerce. In parallel, I also served as the NLP Lead and Strategist for key client projects—owning the end-to-end NLP execution plan to ensure virtual assistants met business goals and delivered measurable outcomes. Key responsibilities included: Defining NLP strategies for client implementations—outlining techniques, processes, and phased roadmaps for deployment, testing, and optimization. Leading discovery sessions with cross-functional stakeholders to understand business objectives, user journeys, and domain-specific language, and translating them into scalable NLU architectures. Overseeing bot training workflows, including intent taxonomy design, entity modeling, context and disambiguation handling, sentiment-driven responses, and multilingual configuration. Guiding NLP testing and go-live readiness, including utterance analysis, test planning, regression reviews, and performance benchmarking. Mentoring and managing a high-performing NLP team, ensuring timely delivery, knowledge sharing, and alignment with client and platform standards. Introducing GenAI and LLM capabilities into existing NLU-based solutions—enabling use cases like auto-response generation, summarization, dynamic prompting, and knowledge grounding. Working with LLMs such as OpenAI and Azure OpenAI to enhance assistant intelligence and support hybrid GenAI+NLU implementations. Driving performance improvement initiatives by leveraging user analytics, conversation data, and containment metrics for continuous tuning. Collaborating with product, engineering, and UX teams to ensure solutions were robust, scalable, and aligned with Kore.ai’s platform capabilities. ### Associate Manager NLP - Professional Services @ Kore.ai Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Hyderabad, Telangana, India ### Senior NLP Analyst @ Kore.ai Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Hyderabad, Telangana, India ### Language Expert @ Kore.ai Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Hyderabad, Telangana, India ### Communication Specialist @ People Tech Group Inc Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Hyderabad Area, India A Learning & Development professional, Soft Skills & English Trainer. Also, doing content development for technical projects and releases, building content for company's declarations, official policies. ### Junior Research Fellow - English @ University of Lucknow Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | Lucknow, India ### Assistant Professor Of English @ Amity University U.P.,Lucknow Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | Lucknow, India ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sonikanarula11 --- Source: https://flows.cv/sonikavarmanarula JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/sonikavarmanarula/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13